Use social media to promote your book

Learn the basics about using social media as an author. Stand out to your fans and activate a community.

Your fans are scrolling. They browse their feeds quickly, moving through hundreds of posts from family photos to news and announcements. As an author, you might feel pressure to stand out in a busy space. As you shape your social media strategy for your new book, start with these tips to stand out — in a way that feels authentic and true to you.

Start a conversation

To build your brand as an author using social media, you’ve got to participate in the conversation. You’re unlikely to develop a following if your social presence only goes only one direction, so start with these suggestions.

• Chat with your followers. Thoughtfully respond to comments on your posts, even just to say thanks for reading.
• Consider featuring or recognizing fans who’ve mentioned you in their posts. Reward your fans for their interest.
  
• Show some personality. While your audience is certainly interested in your writing, the most successful author accounts also give readers a glimpse of a three-dimensional personality behind the page. Fans enjoy getting to know the person behind the books.
  
• Start the discussion. Ask questions of your followers. Ask them about their favorite reads or for feedback about a preview chapter you’ve released or another passage.
  
• Converse with other authors. See where other authors post on social media, then contribute and participate when it’s an open discussion.
  
• It takes time to build a following. You don’t have to be online all the time, but you can schedule “social media time” a few times a week to plan and post for your channels.
  

Provide a variety of content

To keep readers interested, vary the types of content you share on social media. You need to share key moments like when your book or pre-order will be available. You can also participate in discussions, share writing tips, or update followers on your progress.

Try using short passages from your book in posts. Try teasing new plot points that will get your fans excited about a new twist you’ll only reveal in the next book. Ask your followers a question about that plot point. Do they like it? Do they have suggestions?

You can also vary the media types that you share through your social channels. Post quotes from your book, photos of your bookshelves, or interesting points from your reviewers, even if they’re not 100% positive.

Of course, your big moments — posts that you might even consider for paid promotion — should take center stage on social media. The moment when you reveal your book cover is a great example of one of these big social media moments.

Use customized assets and links to promote your book

Grab your followers’ attention by building custom assets for your book or audiobook through the Promote section of the Apple Books Marketing Tools. The tool makes it easy to generate engaging visuals and short URLs that will link directly to your book or audiobook on Apple Books.

Link to one destination page


After your fans are interested, make sure you give them a way to act on that interest. In every post, include a direct link that lands your readers on a single destination page with localized purchase options for stores where your book is available.

Apple has partnered with Booklinker to provide this tool for free to maximize your revenue opportunities. Start using Booklinker today when you paste your Apple Books URL in the search bar.

Leverage the affiliate program


Earn additional revenue through your links by signing up for the Apple Affiliate program. Once in the program, easily add your unique affiliate token to your links in order to monetize and track your social media posts.